Circumstances
by rachelj1993
Summary: Olivia encounters a teenage victim who's going to require more than just closure from her recent attack.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I own nothing relating to Law and Order

It's almost too easy for a person to allow a moment to define them, to take a role ion shaping their future. Some of it's done unconsciously the self-blame, depression, isolation, all those emotions and more intertwined, bulldozing their way into the middle of a victims brain and establishing themselves there. Threatening to become a permanent fixture in the mind of an innocent person.

As a detective in the Special Victims Unit it was Olivia Benson's job to intervene in that process, to protect and bring justice to those who are in desperate need of it. After having played a significant role in bringing closure to countless victims she instinctively knew the right actions to take in a wide variety of situations. She knew when victims needed to be pushed further to open up or when her presence alone would be comfort enough.

Emma Stevens, however, knew about none of this. She wasn't aware of the role her attack could play in her life if left a secret, She didn't even know Detective Olivia Benson existed. She knew that she should report what had happened to her, but telling that story would take more courage or strength than she thought she had in her at the time. Lately her mind had been racing, her emotions flying all over the place. She was depressed, then angry, then scared, then any other negative emotion she felt she could possibly experience. She always felt anything but content.

It was by chance that she was angry that rainy day on her walk home fro school. Angry at a variety of things, her family for not caring, her friends for not noticing, her rapist for what he'd done to her, and herself fro letting it happen. That's when the internal conflict always began , was it his fault or hers. She knew the right answer to that question, obviously his, she had said no. But everyday it was a battle just to convince herself of that fact, to remind herself that she was innocent, a victim.

It was on a whim that she ran into the precinct, a last second thought, a last ditch effort to be rescued. She went into the building and went through the process of figuring out which floor to go to. She was able to make it into the elevator and push the button for the correct before reality hit her. The doors opened indicating that she had made it to the correct location and as she saw the group of people crowded around to get on she hesitantly stepped off.

Her eyes immediately narrowed in on the door. "Special Victims Unit" was plastered on the lass and it took everything she had to just peek inside. No one paid much attention to her, she didn't really stick out. She was 17 years old, maybe 5'7" with medium to long length dark brown hair, and blue-green eyes that, at that moment, concentrated on what was happening ion the squad room.

Inside Elliot was discussing a case with Detective Munch while Fin was busy completing paper work that she needed to have finished last week. It wasn't a terribly intimidating scene, but right outside the door Emma was still staring in. The only sound she could hear now was her own heart beat as her anxiety steadily increased with the thought of telling one of theses men what had happened to her. Her anger was quickly vanishing as fear began to set in. She didn't have the slightest idea how she would be able to go through with this so she decided that the best course of action would be to just turn around, get back on the elevator, and continue her walk home as if this little excursion had never occurred.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts and now desperate need to escape that she had unknowingly become completely oblivious to her surroundings including the women who was walking toward her. Emma turned around in a hurry and accidentally collided with her.

"Sorry" She quickly managed to stutter out before attempting to walk away.

"That's ok." The women answered while stepping in front of Emma, blocking her path to the elevator. "Is there something I can help you with?" She asked.

It was then that Emma noticed the gun and badge the women had on. She was a detective. Emma stood there for a moment staring at her, thinking intently about whether or not she wanted to take this opportunity to let someone in.

"Are you ok?" The women asked again after Emma hadn't answered her first question. "I'm Detective Olivia Benson, I work with the Special Victims Unit." Olivia told her gesturing toward the door.

Emma knew this was the perfect chance. Someone had literally just walked into her and asked to help. This, however , did nothing for her nerves which had, by this point, sky rocketed to monumental proportions.

She tried to open her mouth to speak but quickly shut it after finding her voice had failed her and wasn't going to let her vocalize anything at that moment. She settled for shaking her head and shifting her gaze to the floor instead.

Olivia, picking up on the fact that she wasn't going to be able to get any more information out of the girl while they were in the hallway, decided to take her to an interrogation room. "Let's go someplace more private, ok?" She asked not waiting for an answer as she gently guided Emma toward a free room.

Emma felt like she was shaking as Olivia led her through the squad room and made eye contact with one of the men Emma had been staring in on earlier. He responded with a nod in return. Olivia opened another door and told her she could have a seat at the table. Emma was relieved to finally be sitting down. It was then that she noticed the man had also entered the room. He shut the door behind him but hung back a bit as Olivia sat across from her at the table.

"This is my partner, Elliot Stabler." Olivia told her as she pulled out her note pad.

Detective Stabler gave her a quick smile in a effort to not scare her more than she obviously already was.

"Ok, so can you tell us your name?" Olivia gently asked her.

Emma took a deep breath that did little to top her voice from shaking when she spoke. "Emma…Stevens" She managed to spit out.

Olivia scribbled it down. " Ok, Emma can you tell me what happened?"

Emma looked up at Olivia trying her hardest to ignore Elliot's presence who ,was himself, trying to be invisible for her comfort.

"Ummm.." She was starting to panic, "I…uhh." She glanced over at Elliot then quickly looked back down again.

"Would it help if Detective Stabler left?" Olivia asked, picking up on the girl's anxiety level.

Emma just nodded and Elliot silently left the room. "I don't want to be rude." She quietly told Olivia "It's just.."

"I understand." Olivia kindly told, her cutting her off. "Do you think you could tell me what happened? Just take your time."

"Ok, so I was at school last Tuesday." Emma began, stopping to take a breath. "I was feeling pretty bad, so I decided to leave early. I walked home and went to my room and was thinking about….doing something…" She paused and glanced at Olivia to see her reaction to the vague description she had just let slip out. Olivia just nodded at her indicating that she should continue with her story. She would be questioned about the "something" later ,but right now she just wanted to keep Emma talking. "Ok, so I decided that I was going to go through with it…or do it and had everything I needed ready when I heard a knock at the door. It was my friend Seth. We hadn't really talked in awhile and I didn't want him to even come in but he saw that I'd been crying and just pushed his way past me into my house. He asked me who was home with me and I told him no one, that's when he started walking toward my bedroom. He knew that I had seriously considered doing…this in the past. But I hadn't told him about now. I hadn't told anybody about now. He went in my room and saw everything laid out and got really mad. He started screaming "not again!" and grabbed me. The he told me if I thought I was so worthless he might as well treat me like I was. I said no over and over but…he didn't listen." Emma stopped her story and with tears running down her face risked a glance up at Olivia, who with a sympathetic smile placed a box of tissues in front of her.

Emma gratefully took one but continued to cry as she slowly reached her hand into her pocket. She had sworn to herself that she could ever tell anybody about this, but that was earlier today. Right now she was sitting in a room at a table with a detective that she'd met less than an hour ago crying her eyes out. Now was different. If she gave up part of the story she might as well give it all up.

"Did he rape you?" Olivia asked quietly.

Emma nodded her head yes and took her hand out of her pocket, slowly setting the contents of it down on the table. As she lifter her hand away Olivia leaned forward and picked up what Emma had just laid down. She looked in the plastic bag and estimated that it contained 30, maybe 40 pills.

"That's what Seth saw when he walked into my room." Emma blurted out.

" He raped you because you were about to do drugs?" Olivia asked her. Although the way she said it made it sound more like a statement than a question.

"No" She replied shaking her head.

She again looked down at the table and said just loud enough for Olivia to hear, "He did it because I was about to kill myself."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- I own nothing relating to Law and Order

Olivia stared at Emma after what she had just confessed, slightly shocked and completely confused. In all her years of helping rape victims this was new. Knowing that Elliot and Cragen had been watching the interview from the behind the glass, she trusted that one of them had already called Huang to come talk to this girl.

Snapping back to reality she realized that she had to say something. "Emma….." She said gently. But Emma was staring at the ground, crying, and paying no attention to the detective trying to get her attention. "Emma." Olivia tried again, this time getting up and moving to sit next to her. " If you said no, then he was wrong, not you." She continued, sticking to the part of Emma's story that she did understand.

"It was my fault." Emma cried. " Seth and I have been friends for awhile. Last year when I mentioned that I was thinking about killing myself he told me that he would do whatever he had to to stop me from going through with it. We'd hang out everyday and eventually I just stopped talking to him about it. I didn't want him to keep worrying. I guess he figured that because I stopped mentioning it that the problem had gone away. Then he started trying to convince me to do things with him… and telling me we should date. He got really weird about it when I told him I didn't want to. That's why we hadn't talked in so long."

"What made him stop by last Tuesday?" Olivia asked as Emma tried to compose herself.

" I'm not sure…but I've heard around school that he just broke up with his girlfriend so that might have had something to do with it." she answered sitting up and grabbing another tissue.

"Why'd he get so upset when he saw the pills?" Olivia was trying to get as many of her questions answered as she could before Huang would come and need to speak to her.

"Because, like I said he figured that those days were over, in his mind by hanging out with me and not letting me be alone he had "cured me". But then he saw the pills and the note that I had written. He tore that up. Then he came after me and was angry that I wanted to do this to myself. After he raped me he got up and told me that he'd always wanted to do that and he had warned me that he would do anything to stop me from killing myself. I told him that I was going to report it and that what he did was illegal. But he just laughed and said so is suicide. Then he left my house. My parents got home about 5 minutes after, that stopped my plan for that day. Tuesday 's the only day that they get home after I do. That's why I planned it then." Emma sputtered out quickly before she lost the courage.

Olivia offered her a sympathetic smile and gave her a minute to catch her breath. She was about to ask her what school she went to and Seth's last name when Emma looked up at her and muttered, "Look, I said it, that's all I wanted to do. I don't want to drag this out and I sure as hell don't want my parents to find out…I guess I just needed somebody to know that it had happened. But I really need to get out of here now, I'm going to be late getting home. Thank you for listening though."

Emma got up and began to walk towards the door when Olivia jumped up and managed to block her path. "You can't leave yet." Olivia told her as gently as she could, while grabbing her arm and trying to lead her back to the table.

"Why not?" Emma was beginning to get nervous.

"We have a psychiatrist coming in that you need to talk to." Olivia answered with a sigh.

"I told you I'm fine. I don't need to talk to anyone, I just need to go home." Emma was trying her hardest to remain calm and walk around Olivia. However, she got blocked again as Olivia stepped in front of her.

"We just want to make sure that your safe." She tried to reason.

"Then trust me…I am" Emma was beginning to get more inpatient with the detective and Olivia could sense it.

" Look, I know your scared but we can't let you leave until after our doctor talks to you and decides if it's ok." Olivia grabbed her arms and held her back as she attempted to go past her again.

Emma stood still for a second, not looking at Olivia or saying anything. The consequences of talking to a psychiatrist after what she had just confessed to Olivia set in. She was overcome with a sudden need to escape and caught Olivia off guard when she tried to push her way past her.

Olivia was stronger though and managed to quickly grab Emma, wrapping her arms around her and dragging her back to the table. "Just calm down and this will be a lot easier. Just calm down." Olivia repeated to a now hysterical Emma. Emma didn't seem to listen as she continued on her quest to escape, struggling to get out of Olivia's grasp. Elliot, who had been watching the whole ordeal play out on the other side of the window finally entered the room. Emma screamed louder as he made his presence known. "Just stay by the door!" Olivia yelled above Emma's cries as she tried to hold her back

After a few more minutes Emma came to the realization that even if she managed to get past Detective Benson, which was unlikely, she stood no chance of getting past Elliot. She began to slowly calm down, quieting her sobs, and gaining control of her breathing. Olivia waited until she stopped struggling altogether before she let her go and led her to a chair. She looked up and smiled at Elliot nodding that he could go back outside the room. After he left she sat in the chair diagonal from Emma, staring at her as she continued to cry with her head down.

"Emma…look, we just need you to talk to somebody to make sure you don't hurt yourself. But I promise you that you don't need to worry about Seth anymore. He can't hurt you again….ok?" Olivia was trying her hardest to comfort her.

Emma raised her head up and took a deep breath before she looked over at Olivia. " I just don't want to get locked up somewhere." She said quietly.

"We just want you to be safe." Olivia repeated, unable to promise that Emma wouldn't be taken to a hospital if Huang judged her to be an immediate danger to herself.

Emma nodded and sighed as she put her head back down on the table. Olivia patted her on the back as she stood up. " I'm going to go check to see where Dr. Huang is, and talk to Elliot for a minute. I'll be right back, ok?

"Yeah" Emma muttered.

Olivia left the interrogation room and walked over to Elliot and Cragen. "Now that she's finally calm. Where is Huang?"

"Apparently some conference in DC. We have another psychiatrist who works with the FBI on his way." Cragen told her. "But I'm not sure where he's coming from or how long it's going to take him to get here."

"Well, I think waiting for him here would be a lot easier than taking her to the hospital to talk to someone." Elliot chimed in.

Olivia agreed and Cragen told them just to keep an eye on her as he left to update Fin and Munch on the case. "well, this is…different." Elliot added.

"Yeah, even if we can build a case against Seth I'm not sure if she will be able to withstand a trial." Olivia sighed as she went back around to the interrogation room and Emma.

"The doctor will be here soon to talk to you." She told her. "Is there anything I can get you? Something to drink?"

"No thanks." Emma replied barely above a whisper.

" You know it's kind of hot in here, you can take off your coat if you want."

"No." Emma answered a little too quickly.

"Why not?"

"I just don't want to. I'm not that hot." Emma answered trying to recover and convince Olivia it was nothing.

"Is that the only reason?" Olivia continued.

"Yeah."

Olivia wasn't buying it. She walked over and stood next to Emma and put her hand on her back. "You know I'm just trying to help you." She said gently. "No one here is going to hurt you. We can protect you."

Tears began forming in Emma's eyes again as she slowly began taking off her coat. She looked up at Detective Benson's face for any sort of reaction but she could tell she wasn't being judged by the sympathetic smile Olivia gave her.

"Did you do that?" Olivia asked gently, regarding the multiple scars and cuts that adorned her arms.

Emma just nodded in response. "It's going to be ok." Olivia told her as she walked out of the room to talk to Elliot who she knew was still watching the interview on the other side.

She was surprised however when she turned the corner and saw him not standing there alone.

"Alex."

"Elliot and Cragen filled me in." She told her. "With just her story and no rape kit or physical evidence this won't be an easy case, especially with the state she's in mentally."

"I know, but I don't want to push her for more information until after she's been cleared by whoever's stepping in for Huang." Olivia told her.

Alex and Elliot both agreed. "Speaking of her mental state, we should probably go tell Cragen what we just saw when she took off her coat." Elliot added.

The three of them walked over to where Munch, Fin, and Cragen were still discussing the case. They filled them in on the events that had just occurred. "Ok, we'll be sure to tell whatever psychiatrist gets here." Cragen told his detectives before going to his office to try and call someone about when the doctor would be there.

Elliot and Olivia began going back through the evidence that they did have with Alex.15 minutes later a young, short, blonde haired women walks into the squad room. "Hi, I'm Dr. Carter. I got called in to do an interview on a teenage girl."

"Right this way." Olivia told her as she led her through to the interrogation room where Emma was.

Olivia had been filling the Doctor in on what they had found out so far when they reached the window looking into the room. The now empty room.

Olivia quickly ran back out to the squad room and checked by the elevators and stairwell. "Liv, what's wrong?" Elliot asked her after seeing her frantic.

"Emma's gone." She answered in disbelief.


	3. Chapter 3

What?" Elliot asked, already knowing he had heard Olivia correctly the first time. " We were here the entire time how did she manage to get past without anyone seeing her?"

"It doesn't matter how she did it at this point," Cragen cut in. "Just that she did. She couldn't have gotten far Fin, Munch you two go look around the main lobby and outside, Elliot you come with me and we'll see if we can get her school to give us any information about her. We're going to need to know more about her anyway. Olivia check around the precinct, just in case she didn't actually leave."

Everyone immediately went to their assigned tasks as soon as Cragen announced them. Elliot followed him onto the elevator leaving Olivia and the doctor to search the precinct. "Wait here." Olivia told the other women as she got an idea of where she wanted to begin her search.  
The doctor stayed put as Olivia jogged off in the direction of the bathroom. She had a feeling this may be where she was going to find Emma and her suspicions were confirmed as she opened the door and heard quiet sobs coming from inside one of the stalls. "Emma?"'She asked gently while softly knocking on the door to the stall the cries were coming from. There was no reply but the crying grew noticeably louder.  
"Emma, everything's going to be ok but I need you to come out of the bathroom and talk to me all right?" she tried to make her voice sound as sincere and caring as possible in hopes that she could gain the young girls trust.  
More crying could be heard as Emma realized she was stuck. "I can't" she finally cried out to the detective. "If I come out I'm just going to be sent to the hospital again and no one will believe that the rape ever happened."

"That's not true." Olivia tried to reason with her. "I believe you, Detective Stabler believes you, and our ADA believes you. Seth will never hurt you again."

"You can't promise that!" she yelled while slowly growing hysterical. "He will never get convicted of it. It'll just piss him off more that I told somebody."

Olivia was silent for a minute trying to decide how to get through to Emma. She wasn't going to be able to do it alone. Emma needed to know that more than one person had her back in this. "Hey Emma, can you hang on for minute?" she asked hoping that the girl would be fine if she left to go get somebody.  
As soon as Emma muttered that she would Olivia ran out of the bathroom and back out to where she had left the doctor, who was now talking to Alex. "Alex!" she yelled as she saw her. "I need you to come with me." she turned and started walking back to the bathroom knowing that Alex was following her. "I just need you to assure her that you will do everything you can to put away the guy who hurt her." Olivia told her before they entered the bathroom.

Alex nodded that she would and Olivia slowly opened the door expecting to go and speak to the stall door again. Instead she was surprised when she turned the corner and saw Emma out of the stall and leaning against the sink. "Emma this is Alex Cabot our ADA and the women who will be prosecuting Seth" she said walking slowly towards her.

"It's nice to meet you Emma" Alex said sticking her hand out for Emma to shake.  
Reluctantly Emma shook it.

"You too" she said softly, unsure of whether or not she meant it.

Olivia was about to say something else when they heard the door creek open again and the doctor step inside. "Oh. Hi." the doctor said when she saw that not only was Emma out of the stall but everyone was staring in her direction. "You must be Emma" she said politely as she walked up to shake her hand.

"You must be the shrink." Emma replied, sounding a bit harsher than she meant to. She glanced at Detective Benson who nodded her head ensuring Emma that this woman was safe. Emma reluctantly shook her hand.

Dr. Carter hesitated for a moment; taken aback by Emma's response. "Yes, I'm Dr. Carter." She finally managed to reply. "I was hoping it would be ok if I spoke with you?"

Emma sighed knowing that it really didn't matter if this was ok with her or not. This was protocol; it was going to happen regardless of how she felt about it. "Sure" she mumbled to the psychiatrist and Olivia immediately jumped in.

"Let me take you guys to an interview room." She offered as she led the doctor and Emma out of the bathroom with Alex in tow.

Once they were seated at the table Olivia turned to leave when she realized that the doctor was trying to tell her something without Emma overhearing it. "Detective Benson, I'll let you know when I'm done with this interview what I think the best course of action would be to take regarding her mental state."

Olivia thanked her before heading back out to the squad room to call her co-workers and let them know Emma was found. When that was finished she walked over to discuss the case with Alex. "Do you think she has a shot at trial?"

"Maybe" Alex answered "We definitely need more details and someone needs to pick this Seth kid up and hear what excuses he has for the incident."

"Yeah" Olivia agreed "Elliot and the captain and at her school looking into that now. I'm sure they'll find him."

Meanwhile at Emma's school Elliot and Cragen had spoken to her principal and any teachers that seemed to know her. Originally they had been trying to get any information about where she may have run off to. But after Elliot got the phone call from Olivia letting him know they found her, he decided to redirect his efforts into finding out who Seth was. Followed by Cragen, he made his way back to the principal's office. "Excuse me sir, we have one more question." Elliot announced making his presence known and taking the middle aged man away from his work for the second time that day.

"Certainly detective, what else can I do for you?" He answered, trying to suppress his growing impatience.

"We need to speak to another student of yours named Seth. He may have been seen around the school with Emma a while ago."Cragen cut in.

"I'm not close to Emma detectives. I don't know who she's friends with and there are way too many students named Seth for me to allow you to speak to all of them. The only person I've ever really see her communicate with is the class president. Her name's Katie, you can speak to her if you like, she may know who you're looking for."

"That'd be great." Elliot replied as the principal left to call Katie to his office. He turned to Cragen. "We've been here an hour and a half and so far the only thing we know is that she's a loner." Cragen was about to respond when the principal reentered, followed closely by a young girl.

"Katie these are detectives. They want to speak with you about your friend Emma. I'll be right outside if you need me."He left the room, leaving Katie with Stabler and Cragen.

They introduced themselves and then all sat down at a table in the office. "So Katie, we need to know if you know of any boys named Seth that Emma had been hanging around." Elliot questioned, not going into detail about the situation.

"Well she was friends with Seth Bailey, but that was last year. Last I heard he had asked her out and got really weird when she said no so they quit hanging out." She answered. "Is that all you guys wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah, that all we needed to know. Thanks, I'll let your principal know you can go back to class."Cragen told her as she got up and left the room. He went out and talked to the principal, also letting him know that they would need to speak to Seth Bailey. The principal called him down as Elliot and the captain waited in the main lobby for him.

About 3 minutes later a boy walked into the office. He was tall, much bigger than Emma, and slightly overweight. He appeared to be on edge and extremely anxious about having to be in the office at all. Elliot caught sight of him and nudged the Captain to let him know, before getting up and walking toward the boy. "Hi, are you Seth?" There was no reply as the boy just stared at him wide eyed and confused. Eliot continued, "I'm detective Stabler, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment."

Upon hearing that Seth turned around and bolted out of the office. He flew down the hallway with Elliot and Cragen close behind. A gym teacher turned the corner to see what all the yelling was about just as Seth was about to run past him. He stuck his arm out and both fell to the floor. When Elliot and Cragen caught up Seth was immediately cuffed and read his rights. They thanked the shaken teacher and left the building with Seth in custody.

The ride back to the station was a quiet one as Seth silently schemed how he was going to get out of the situation. They arrived at the precinct and Seth was pulled roughly out of the back of the police cruiser and led into the building. Once on the correct floor he was led to an interrogation room where Finn offered to question him while Elliot and the captain went to catch up with Olivia on what had occurred in their absence.

At the same time that Elliot reached her the psychiatrist was walking out of the room. "How is she?" Elliot and Olivia asked at the same time.

"She's denying everything, saying that she didn't mean anything that she told you and the pills were given to her by a friend to give to someone else. She wasn't giving any names though."

"She's scared" Olivia muttered to no one in particular.

"I'm aware" Dr. Carter replied, "But unless she talks there's nothing I can do for her."

"We have Seth in interrogation room two." Elliot let them know. "Ill go see if Finn's making any leeway with him."

"Thanks for your time doctor." Olivia said while she shook her hand. "I'm going to see if I can talk to her."

"No problem, call me if she wants to talk."

Olivia said she would before entering the room to speak to Emma. She was sitting at the table with her head down. She looked exhausted, like she had been through enough for one day and Olivia almost felt bad for pushing her. "Emma" she muttered gently to get the girls attention. Emma slowly put her head up and looked at Olivia but didn't say anything. "How are you doing?" Olivia asked, attempting to get her talking.

"I'm ok" Emma answered quietly.

"I talked to Dr. Carter. She said that you told her you lied to me, and didn't mean anything you said."

"Yeah" Emma replied speaking at normal volume, in a voice that didn't convince Olivia she was being sincere. "I made everything up. The suicide attempt, the rape, everything. I didn't mean any of it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I just wanted attention. Ask my parents they'll tell you the same thing."

"Well I guess we'll find out." Olivia told her. Her voice still gentle, hoping to get the girl to tell her the truth and admit the rape had occurred. "Detective Tutuola called your parents. They're on their way."

At this Olivia was almost certain she saw a look of fear flash across Emma's face. But it was quickly replaced with the blank expression of a teenager trying to prove that she didn't care. "Will they be able to take me home?" She asked.

"Yes, but if you don't tell me the truth you will be charged with filing a false police report."

Before Emma could respond Finn knocked on the door and stuck his head in. "Her parents just got here."

"Thanks Finn" Olivia replied. She turned to Emma. "I'll be right back." She then walked out of the room to speak to Emma's parents about the day's events and the possible consequences in store for their daughter.

When she entered Cragens office she was met by a slightly older couple dressed in business attire. Both looked disgruntled and appeared to be in some sort of hurry to leave. Olivia introduced herself and took a seat. "So, Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, I take it you both have heard why your daughter is here."

"Yes, Yes. Captain Cragen told us everything." The man answered, "Emma has an imagination. She likes attention just charge her, I have access to good lawyers. But please make it quick because we both have meetings we have to get to."

"Don't you want to speak to your daughter? She seems pretty upset. I'm not so sure that this didn't happen." Olivia told them, disliking their attitude.

"It didn't, I assure you." The woman interjected "Emma loves attention. She does that whole cutting thing. We pay no mind to it we have people that we really need to talk to and make sales with. We don't have the time to deal with her made up drama."

This pissed off Olivia who was about to say something when she heard a voice from behind her say "See I told you." It was Emma standing in the doorway.

"Right" Her father added while getting up. "Let's leave." He gripped Emma's arm and, followed by his wife, exited the office.

Olivia chased after them and managed to catch up to Emma by the elevator. "Emma" She yelled to get her attention. When the girl turned around she pulled a card out of her pocket. "This is my business card. It has my number on it. If you need anything at anytime call me, I mean it."Emma nodded and turned to get back on the elevator when out of the corner of her eye she saw Seth being led to the room that she just came out of.

She grabbed Olivia's arm and ignored her parents yelling for her to hurry up. She heard her mom say they were leaving and for her to call them later before the elevator door closed leaving her hiding behind Olivia. "Hey whets wrong?" Olivia asked her sensing the young girl going into panic mode. Emma didn't reply, she lost control of her breathing and wasn't calming down.

"Its ok, come on." Olivia told her while gently leading her over to her desk to sit down. Once she was seated Olivia knelt down in front of her and tried to get her to calm down.

"He's here" was all Emma kept saying over and over. Seth was in the interrogation room, out of sight. But this did little to help Emma.

Olivia quieted her down. She wanted to know why Emma was so worked up, but she knew she needed to wait for Emma to be calm so as not to upset her further. It took about 10 minutes before Olivia felt comfortable asking Emma about her reaction. "You're safe" She started "You're in a room full of police officers. No one is going to hurt you here. But I need to know why had a panic attack when you saw him."

"He knows" She replied. "He's going to be even more upset, I'm safe here but what about when I leave. Who's going to be around to protect me from him then?"

"We can protect you. But you have to tell us the truth about what happened. That's the only way we can prosecute him."

"I'm sorry" Emma mumbled, tears beginning to form in her eyes again. "I can't do it" She got up and left for the elevators while Olivia watched her go.

Once she was gone Olivia joined Elliot at the window into the interrogation room. "Did you see her reaction when she found out that he was here? Something happened."

"We knew that before we saw how she reacted to him." Elliot replied. "But without any evidence-

"Or victim" Alex cut in, walking up behind them. "Without Emma there's no case, I can't charge him. Cut him loose."


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a few hours since Seth was cut loose. Elliot and Olivia sat at their desks trying to finish up some paperwork before they went home for the night. Things had fallen into a comfortable silence when the phone on Olivia's desk rang, quickly capturing the attention of Elliot and herself.

"Benson" She answered, picking up the phone.

"Olivia?" The voice on the other end of the line asked timidly.

"Emma?" Olivia asked back, her voice laced with concern. This also earned her a glance from Elliot, who wanted to help their latest victim as much as she did.

"I know I ran out on you and I probably shouldn't be calling right now" Emma began rambling, not giving Olivia time question her. "But I really don't want to get in trouble by saying I was lying and he already saw me talking to you so he'll be mad at me either way. I'll tell you the truth, my parents just left, can you please come?"

"Emma slow down. Where are you?"

"I'm at my house." She answered tears evident in her voice. "Look I shouldn't have called you guys, never mind don't come over."

"No, it's ok." Olivia began to answer before realizing that Emma had hung up on her. She put down the phone with a sigh.

"What was that all about?" Elliot questioned.

Olivia quickly filled him in knowing that they had to figure out what to do. "This girl really can't make up her mind, can she?" Elliot asked aloud. "Cragen had her parents fill out papers, let's go get the address off of them." He walked over and knocked on Cragen's door before entering his office. He explained the situation and that they were going to go check on Emma. Cragen agreed with their plan and Elliot walked back out to Olivia address in hand.

The ride to Emma's house was quiet as both detectives anticipated what they would find upon arriving. About 15 minutes from the time they left the station they pulled up at the home. Olivia was the first out of the car looking up at the three story home before Elliot joined her and they walked towards the door. Olivia rang the doorbell and waited. After a minute had passed she rang it again. This continued for about 10 minutes with no sign of Emma.

"She was upset when she called me. I don't want to leave without checking on her." Olivia told her partner.

"Given what she confessed to you earlier today I'm worried about her to." Elliot replied, while trying to peek into the side windows, searching for any signs of movement. "Maybe we can look around back?"

Olivia agreed and followed him into the Steven's backyard. Elliot immediately found a patio door and tested the handle to see if it was unlocked. When the door opened to reveal the inside of the home he stepped back to allow Olivia to enter first.

She took a quick glance around and noticed that everything seemed to be in place. Elliot followed close behind as Olivia proceeded to call out to Emma. There was no reply. They walked around the first floor and stopped at the bottom of a staircase. Olivia was almost positive that she could hear a faint cry coming from one of the bedrooms at the top of the steps. "Emma!" She decided to yell out giving it one more shot. She didn't get a response but the crying got louder confirming her earlier suspicion that someone was upstairs. She followed the cries up the stairs and to a bedroom door with Elliot close behind.

"Emma, its Olivia, Detective Stabler and I came to make sure you were ok."

It took a minute but Olivia finally got a response. "I told you on the phone not to come over. I'm fine." Emma cried out.

"Ok, we just wanted to make sure. Can I come in?" Olivia asked, hoping Emma would cooperate. When she didn't get a reply she gently turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. She glanced around the room and once she was sure that no one else was there turned around to Elliot, silently letting him know that she could talk to Emma alone. He understood and didn't enter the bedroom.

Emma was sitting on her bed, back to Olivia, and didn't pay any attention to the fact that someone had just entered her room. Olivia could still hear her crying. "Emma, are you ok?" She said softly so as not to scare her. The teen made no effort to show that she had heard her.

Olivia decided to walk around to the other side of the bed so she could face her. As her hands came into view Olivia noticed that she was holding something. She got closer and realized that it was a razor blade. She grabbed a hold of Emma's wrist, gently, and the girl dropped the blade onto the bed. "Are you cut?" Olivia asked quickly, needing to first assess if Emma was hurt physically. As she asked this she was trying to roll up Emma's sleeves to look at her wrists.

"Just a few" Emma muttered as Olivia pulled her sleeve up further to reveal a few shallow cuts. They were long but not deep enough to require immediate medical attention. "I was going to do more." She continued "But I guess I took too long to get the courage to do it. It was too late by the time I heard you guys at the door."

"Do what?" Olivia asked her eyes meeting Emma's. Then she understood. The young girl was considering ending her life for the second time that night. "Did you take anything?" She asked and when Emma shook her head no Olivia sat on the bed beside her.

"Well, we can't leave you here by yourself." She waited for Emma's reaction, hoping it wouldn't be like the one from earlier today when she was told she couldn't leave the station.

Instead Emma just nodded. "I was expecting that. Where's detective Stabler?"

Slightly taken aback by Emma's response Olivia quickly regained her composure and answered her. "Downstairs waiting"

Emma got up and Olivia followed her out of the bedroom. She led the way down the steps and found Elliot in the living room. "We're ready to go." Olivia told him and he just nodded and smiled at Emma, knowing his presence may be making her uncomfortable.

Olivia opened the back door to the car and Emma climbed in. Once the door was closed and they were out of earshot Olivia walked over to Elliot. "We need to go to the hospital. She needs to be evaluated again and I don't think it's best if we let her wait for a doctor at the station this time." Elliot agreed before getting behind the wheel.

Once all three were in and buckled Elliot pulled the car away from the curb and headed toward the ER. Emma was under the impression that they were headed to the station and back to the room where she had been held in before. Neither Elliot nor Olivia wanted to tell her the truth just yet.

About 10 minutes later Elliot pulled into the garage of the hospital and glanced over at Olivia, silently asking her how she wanted to approach the situation. She responded by getting out of the car, copying her, he did the same. She opened the back door to allow Emma out. She was hoping that Emma may understand why they came here and she wouldn't have to worry about explaining it and dealing with another outburst if Emma was afraid.

She had no such luck, however, when Emma looked up at her and asked "Why didn't we go back to the station?"

"You have to talk to a doctor again." Olivia answered as nonchalantly as she could manage.

"Please Olivia; Dr. Carter said I could ask you to call her. I won't run this time." Emma begged.

"This will be quicker." Elliot cut in trying to defuse the situation before it escalated any further.

Emma surprisingly and reluctantly agreed and began walking beside the detectives toward the hospital entrance. Things were calm for minute or so as the detectives and Emma walked in silence when they heard the echo of footsteps as someone began walking right up behind them. "Again Emma?" A boy's voice said and the detectives turned around.

"Seth…" Emma began, shocked at his presence, when Elliot decided to butt in.

"What are you doing here?" He asked nearing the boy.

Seth looked up at him, not an ounce of fear in his eyes, as he said "I was never charged with anything detective. As far as the law is concerned I've never laid a hand on her."

"I'll tell them." Emma spoke up, gaining courage, and then quickly losing it.

"No one will believe you; you already admitted you're a liar once. Why don't you just kill yourself and get it over with?"

Elliot stepped in front of Seth so he could no longer see Emma, as Olivia wrapped her arm around Emma in an attempt to lead her towards the hospital and away from Seth. Emma was crying and shaking as Olivia gently led her away. "He told me to do it Olivia." She cried out.

Olivia stopped walking and gently turned Emma to face her. "Told you to do what?"

"Kill myself, after he saw me at the prescient he sent me a text saying that no one would believe that he did that to me and that I should just kill myself to save me from the embarrassment of accusing him."

Emma was near hysterical again and Olivia wrapped her arms around her, hugging her. "Emma, do you still have that text?"

"Yeah, it's on my phone."

"Can I see it?"

Emma pulled away from Olivia and reached into her pocket pulling out her cell phone. She scrolled through messages for a minute before finding the right one and handing the phone over to Olivia. The detective quickly read it over before calling over Elliot, who was still talking to Seth. He came over and Olivia handed him the phone.

He quickly read over the message as Olivia caught him up on what Emma had told her. Elliot handed the phone back over to Olivia and gave her a quick smile before walking towards Seth who was walking away. He ran up and caught him putting his hands behind his back and cuffing them. Seth screamed obscenities at him as Elliot read him his rights. Olivia and Emma watched as he was put into the car and driven away.

"Do I still have to go?" Emma asked, referring to the hospital.

"Yes, I know you don't want to but you need help." Olivia replied, trying to get through to her.

"But Seth is gone. Why would I try to do it now?"

"You told me that you were about to kill yourself before Seth even came over to your house." Olivia calmly reminded her, while holding her arm in case she decided to try running again.

"But if I have to stay in the hospital then I won't stand a chance at trial. Everyone's going to assume that I'm crazy and unreliable."

Olivia paused, staring at Emma. What she had said could be accurate but her wellbeing had to come first. "I have to make sure your safe. If something happened to you we wouldn't be able to go to trial at all." Olivia then again began walking toward the entrance, still keeping a light hold on Emma's arm so she couldn't run.

Emma reluctantly followed. She knew that if she was admitted that she would be torn apart at trial so she spent the walk towards the entrance and the time spent waiting for the doctor to come speak to her scheming ways to convince everyone that she wasn't a danger to anyone, herself included. When the doctor finally came to talk with her she had a plan figured out.

About 20 minutes later the doctor walked out of the room and over to Olivia. "Is she going to be admitted?" The detective immediately asked.

"No, she claims that she's never wanted to kill herself. Apparently the cuts were done by accident, although she did admit to being raped. I don't entirely believe her about the accidental cutting and no thoughts of suicide but if she won't tell me the truth there isn't much I can do."

"Thanks Doctor." Olivia said as she began walking towards Emma's room. She was relieved that Emma hadn't recanted her rape accusation however she knew that lying about how she was feeling wasn't going to help Emma at all. She entered the hospital room and saw Emma ready to leave.

"The doctor said I'm free to go." She said as she got off the bed and headed to the door.

"Hang on Emma." Olivia stopped her. "Will you talk to me for a minute?" Emma nodded and sat back down on the bed as Olivia did the same. "I know what you told the doctor. I also know that it wasn't entirely the truth."

"Yes it was." Emma maintained.

"No it wasn't, and lying is only going to make you seem less credible in court. Seth knows that you were about to kill yourself and I'll have to testify that's what you told me as well."

Emma was quiet for a moment, her gaze fixed on the floor. "Let's just get out of here. Do I have to go back down to the station?"

Olivia sighed and stood up. "Yes, Elliot should be here by now and we're both going to ride back with him."

They exited the hospital and met up with Elliot, who upon reaching the car opened the back door for Emma to get in. "How'd it go?" He asked Olivia.

"Not very well, she's going to get torn up at trial. Seth is going to walk."

Elliot smirked at her as he walked around to the driver's side door. "I didn't tell you what happened when we got Seth down to the station."


End file.
